Honor and the American Dream: Culture and Identity in a Chicano Community

• NCJ Number: 148971
• Author(s): R Horowitz
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 289 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2-09-25-0410-03; 77-NI-99-0066
• Sponsoring Agency: Illinois Law Enforcement Cmssn (see Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority); US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: Rutgers University Press
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study of an inner-city Chicago Chicano community focused on the community's youths and the process by which the community and the youths negotiated the meanings of particular kinds of conduct and relationships.

Abstract

To ascertain the broad cultural patterns of the residents of 32nd Street, the study considered two periods in the lives of the youths. The study's first phase examined teenagers as they interacted and developed identities in various social settings: in the adult world, in their homes, on the streets, and in the schools. The second phase analyzed the process by which the transition from teenager to older community member was made, as it followed some of the subjects as they established families and began to support themselves. A largely ahistorical perspective was used in the first phase, as it analyzed variations in social identities within various peer groups and different settings. It also analyzed the meanings that similar symbols had in various contexts (situational and institutional) and among different groups. The second phase dealt with changes: the movement of youths into new social settings and the re- evaluation (either change or reaffirmation) of social identities. One of the issues examined is why gangs remained fighting gangs even when many of their members had married, held full-time jobs, and no longer liked to fight. The adult gang members continued to waver between street life and convention and to lean toward peer group solidarity over individualistic attempts at economic achievement. Another issue addressed is why residents of 32nd Street were different from mainstream Americans and why they desired to remain so even if they were able to obtain increased economic and political resources. The author uses the concept of community culture to explore the linkages and conflicts between honor and the American dream, as well as the economic realities of daily life. Chapter notes, a 196- item bibliography, and a subject index